This disclosure relates in general to streamed content delivery and, but not by way of limitation, to choosing a bitrate for the streamed content delivery.
Streamed delivery of video is becoming more and more popular. There are many problems with streamed delivery over the Internet, for example, choosing a bitrate to supply the stream with. Any of content originator, Internet, any content delivery network (CDN), or the end user Internet service provider (ISP) may introduce a bottleneck that affects the bitrate to choose. Conventionally, a streaming device, applet or application video player will test the connection from the end user system perspective to choose from a number of possible bitrates for delivering a content object.
A particular video player has a fixed algorithm to determine the preferred bitrate. The only knowledge that is used for these algorithms is how the test works of the connection with the Internet. Any change to the connection with the Internet results in a new test of the connection and possible selection of a different bitrate. Further, some players retest the connection after fast forwarding or rewinding. With testing taking a number of seconds, the user experience is greatly affected. This is especially true for users that expect streaming media to work like cable or satellite television, which does not require testing of the connection.